Spring Break
Lessons learned on a Friday afternoon
Anne Marie Merline
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Opinion
A few weeks ago, while my son was with his father and I actually could control the TV with the remote in my power, I ran into a TV show called " The Last Lecture: A Love Story For Your Life."
The special was about Randy Pausch, a computer science faculty member from Carnegie Mellon, who has been diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
"The Last Lecture," according to ABC News, was meant to be similar to a lecture series in which top academics are asked the question, "what would you say if you knew you were going to die and had a chance to sum up everything that was most important to you?"
In preparation for this, my last column, I wanted to ask myself, "what is the most important lesson that I have learned this year that I would like to convey to the students?"
I always write these columns when I am inspired by what happens in my life. This past Friday was no different.
After my 10:00 a.m. class, I had a day full of social engagements. 11:15 a.m. -- tea with my friend Lisa whom I have not seen for about a year. 1:30 p.m. -- lunch with my friend Michelle, and at 5:30 p.m., a party with other part-time faculty members from CSU.
While it might be evident that the evening event may have an obvious tie-in with my job, the other two are just as important.
Lisa works for Girl Scouts of Colorado. We first connected many years ago when I was looking for a non-profit agency for my students to help through a service-learning program.
I am looking into the possibility of having my students help some of the Girl Scouts earn a citizenship badge as a part of my class on voting rights history in the fall. I did this four years ago and it was a successful project for both my students and the Brownies and Junior Scouts that we helped.
I met Michelle, whom I consider one of my best friends, while I was the human at the white board at Front Range Community College. Michelle was one of the first students that I ever had the pleasure of teaching.
The special was about Randy Pausch, a computer science faculty member from Carnegie Mellon, who has been diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
"The Last Lecture," according to ABC News, was meant to be similar to a lecture series in which top academics are asked the question, "what would you say if you knew you were going to die and had a chance to sum up everything that was most important to you?"
In preparation for this, my last column, I wanted to ask myself, "what is the most important lesson that I have learned this year that I would like to convey to the students?"
I always write these columns when I am inspired by what happens in my life. This past Friday was no different.
After my 10:00 a.m. class, I had a day full of social engagements. 11:15 a.m. -- tea with my friend Lisa whom I have not seen for about a year. 1:30 p.m. -- lunch with my friend Michelle, and at 5:30 p.m., a party with other part-time faculty members from CSU.
While it might be evident that the evening event may have an obvious tie-in with my job, the other two are just as important.
Lisa works for Girl Scouts of Colorado. We first connected many years ago when I was looking for a non-profit agency for my students to help through a service-learning program.
I am looking into the possibility of having my students help some of the Girl Scouts earn a citizenship badge as a part of my class on voting rights history in the fall. I did this four years ago and it was a successful project for both my students and the Brownies and Junior Scouts that we helped.
I met Michelle, whom I consider one of my best friends, while I was the human at the white board at Front Range Community College. Michelle was one of the first students that I ever had the pleasure of teaching.
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